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Sean’s driving career almost hit the skids when medics told him he might have sleep apnoea - a constriction of the airwaves caused by the fat around his throat, which would have made him illegible for an HGV licence.

He said: 'I snore when I sleep and my wife noticed that I would stop breathing when I slept so we went to get it checked out.

'I went to the consultant at Stobhill Hospital and he warned me that they would have to contact the DVLA if it was confirmed I had sleep apnoea.

Being told that his size was not only effecting his health but jeopardizing his career was the prompt Sean needed to lose weight

'I couldn’t believe it. I walked out of the hospital and realised it was time to change.

'I faced losing my livelihood, my health, because of my weight around my neck it was making it difficult for me to breathe when I lay flat.'

Sean’s job as an HGV driving instructor meant he trained emergency service workers and was one of six instructors sent to Arbroath to train Royal Commandos in off-road driving before they were deployed to Afghanistan.

But he admitted standing alongside fit soldiers was 'a bit embarrassing' when he was at his heaviest.

Sean began to lose weight using Herbalife last year, a nutritional supplement, which sees him drink two shakes for breakfast and lunch, with a main meal in the evening of chicken and veg.

He also revealed it was three weeks before he could get onto a regular set of scales, because he was too big.

Medics told Sean he might have sleep apnoea - a constriction of the airwaves caused by the fat around his throat

Sean said: 'After I started the diet, I was too heavy in the first three weeks, so I had to go in and check my weight on one of those big scales in Boots.

'I wanted to make myself better and add some more years to my life. Before I started my diet I couldn’t walk more than 20 yards but now I have so much energy.

As well as his work as a HGV instructor, Sean now runs Fit Factor, at Signatures Studio, in North Lanarkshire.

His wife Ann, 49, a senior support worker, said: 'It was quite scary - I would wake up and there would be 30 to 40 seconds when he wasn’t breathing.

'We had even considered a gastric band until he started to lose the weight. The doctor had warned him he wouldn’t see 50 if he didn’t make a change.

'I was frightened for him, but it’s completely changed his life.

'The other week we were out for dinner and an old friend didn’t recognise him because of how much weight he had lost - she thought I was with a new boyfriend.